The habitat of certain fish includes bodies of water that are populated with weeds or other growth. The largemouth bass, for example, which is one of the most popular sport game fish in the world, is notorious among fishermen for hiding in thick weeds and congested areas. Such areas may also include submerged tress, stumps, rocky formations, and so forth. Other predatory game fish show similar “hide and ambush” behavior.
There are several lure designs, such as crank baits, spinner baits, and spoons, which work in catching fish. A crank bait, for example, includes a body that resembles a prey fish along with the well-known treble hook design. Unfortunately, these treble hooks are prone to catching in the weeds and other formations in congested areas because they have exposed hooks. The fish hook may become so entangled that the line breaks or must be broken in order to retrieve the fishing line, resulting in a loss of the fish hook or lure.
Weedless design with a fish hook is known in the fishing field to prevent the fish hook from being caught in the weeds or other debris. Some hooks use a weedless three-hook assembly. However, the individual hooks are restrained by a string element which prevents full extension of the hooks, so that the hook ends cannot fully engage the fish. Further, the hook ends extend from the shanks at a very gradual angle that makes it easy for the fish to wiggle off the hook or hooks. Therefore, this device is not effective at engaging the fish.
Other devices disclose multiple hooks that are of the same length. These hooks do not work effectively because the hooks tend to interfere with each other when moving from a weedless configuration to a configuration for engaging the fish's mouth. The design of four hooks, for example, makes it difficult for them to engage the fish.